Calorie Counting, Korean Style

My better half is a very very busy man. In his limited down time he likes nothing more than teaching himself blues and jazz guitar (which he’s gotten very good at, despite his protestations). He’s also a big fan of Asian food, a throwback to when we lived in China and got to sample the wonderful and gastronomic foods of China and its neighbors Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Korea.

On this note, we had a little free time for great meal today at a local Korean restaurant Ssam, here in our little corner of Brooklyn. Ssam specializes in traditional Korean food, in particular Bibimbap, a signature scalding hot clay bowl that contains white rice topped with sautéed and seasoned vegetables, chilli pepper paste, soy sauce, or a fermented soybean paste. A raw or fried egg and sliced meat can also be added. You stir the items in the bowl before eating and it is both satisfying and utterly delicious.

When I am eating out, I like to approximate the nutritional content of what I’m eating with the help of websites and apps like myfitnesspal.com . For example I know that this rice bowl is roughly 400 calories and the fat content is around 5g. Myfitnesspal.com helps you calculate the nutritional content of thousands of ingredients and meals and it’s a very useful tool for keeping track of what you eat on a given day.